After extending invitations and holding candidate interviews, the Tulare County Democratic Central Committee has made its local candidate endorsements for the November 8 election. The recommended candidates for Visalia City Council are Amy Shuklian and Raymond Macareno. The recommended candidates for Visalia Unified School District Governing Board are Lucia Vazquez in Area 6 and Lita Reid in Area 7.
Visalia City Council members are elected at large throughout the whole city. Since three seats are up for election, voters will be able to cast three votes, and the top three vote getters in the six-candidate field will be elected to four-year terms on the Council.
Amy Shuklian is an incumbent council member and the Vice Mayor of Visalia. She has a deserved reputaton as an extremely hard worker and is known for her openness. Amy got her start advocating for a dog park and recreational facilities, and has helped bring both to fruition. She has never missed a Council meeting, and is known throughout the area for her accessibility and effectiveness in working together with city, county, state and federal agencies and electeds to get things done for Visalia. Always attentive to the voice and concerns of the people, she intiated a monthly open house where she makes appointments and meets with citizens to hear and help with their issues. Amy well deserves a second four-year term.
Raymond Macareno is currently a service center Director and the former Executive Director of the Tulare County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Raymond combines a strong service ethic with a knowledge of the needs of small business. As such, Raymond would provide a voice and sounding board for communities that currently are not represented on the Council, particularly in the Hispanic community. Raymond's multifacted talents and experience merit his election to the Council.
Lucia Vazquez is running unopposed in Visalia Unified School District Area 6. The School Board has for the first time gone to area elections, and Lucia will be representing a heavily Hispanic and low-income area that has not had representation before. A Consultant and Researcher for Proteus, Inc., Lucia is not content to rest on her laurels as an unopposed candidate. She is running a vigorous campaign to get her name out and meet her constituents. She believes that education is the means up the ladder for today's youth as it was for her, and feels that parent outreach and involvement is a key to fostering an attitude of success. That is something she intends to work hard on.
Lita Reid is our choice for the School Board in Area 7. Lita has a proven record of community involvement and the commitment to make a difference. She is a practicing attorney and was a longtime newspaper editor. She realizes the constraints current budgetary realities impose, but has a systematic approach to keeping funding where it will have the most impact, in the classroom. Her dedication to the education of the whole child, rather than simply teaching to standaridized tests, marks Lita as worthy of support.
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